Vocabulary

1. empire, entertainment, shape, sightseeing, thoroughfare, waterways, width; adjoining, architectural, busy, cultural, financial, lovely, sparse, spiritually;

2. to acquire shape, to be crowded with, to date from, to dot, to join, to go sightseeing, to lay out, to scatter.

Notes to the text

¹ thoroughfare — главная артерия (города), транспортная магистраль

² focus of entertainment — центр развлечений

³ banking establishment — банк

⁴ insurance office — офис страховой компании

Exercises

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

empire, entertainment, existence, sightseeing, thoroughfare, width, architectural, cultural, financial, to acquire, to scatter.

2. Write nouns for the following adjectives:

busy, cultural, northern, architectural, financial, lovely, rich, natural, historical, wide.

3. Translate the following word-combinations into Russian:

the main thoroughfare, the busiest street, the first years of its existence, from the middle of the eighteenth century, on the stretch between, adjoining squares, focus of entertainment, sparse woods, par excellence, banking establishments, insurance offices.

4. Use the following word-combinations in sentences of your own:

to stretch for, to owe its name to, to date from, to become dotted, to acquire shape, to be crowded with, to belong, to scatter, to link, to get a better knowledge of, to admire the beauty, to go sightseeing.

5. Complete the following sentences:

1. Nevsky Prospekt is

2. It stretches from to

3. Nevsky Prospekt crosses

4. The history of Nevsky Prospekt dates from

5. It was laid as

6. From the middle of the eighteenth century the Prospekt gradually began

7. Since 1783 it has come

8. Nevsky Prospekt was

9. Today Nevsky Prospekt with its adjoining squares is par excellence

6. Ask questions for these answers:

1. the main thoroughfare

2. 4,5 km from the Admiralty to the Alexander Nevsky Laura

3. part of the Novgorod lands before the Northern War

4. in 1709

5. the main road to Novgorod

6. in 1783

7. It owes its name to the Alexander Nevsky Laura

8. It was the financial centre of the Russian Empire

9. To get a better knowledge of Nevsky Prospekt

Part II

The Admiralty. We shall start our walk down Nevsky Prospekt from the Admiralty.

When the Peter and Paul Fortress had been completed, it was decided to create yet another bastion at the mouth of the Neva. The Admiralty Yard, a shipyard already under construction, was used for this purpose. It was erected on the site where the Admiralty stands today. The Admiralty was shaped like a broad letter «U», opening towards the Neva. Constructed of wood and plaster, the single-storey structures of the Admiralty could not serve as a fortress. It was therefore decided to surround it with a line of fortifications. The work was treated urgently and by 1705 a semi-circle of earthworks with cannons mounted on them had been thrown up. The earthworks were surrounded by moats which were spanned by drawbridges. In the broad Admiralty Yard there were storehouses, workshops and ten large covered slipways.

The Admiralty shipyard was one of St. Petersburg's most important enterprises in those days. The first 18 gun warship built there was launched in April 1706. After the victory at Poltava, in 1709, the Admiralty Yard began building large ships. Shipbuilding continued there until 1840. The modern building was erected in 1806-1823 by the architect A.D. Zakharov. It is a unique sample of classical style and masterpiece of world architecture. Its facade is about 1340 feet long, with several porticoes to relieve the monotony. A.D. Zakharov retained the old lay-out of the building and the spire, crowned with a model of a caravel about 4 metres high. Sculpture plays an important part in the decoration of the Admiralty. The building is adorned with 56 large sculptures, 11 large reliefs, and 350 various kinds of mouldings executed by eminent Russian sculptors of the period. The sculpture of the Admiralty facades is united in a single theme — the glorification of the Russian navy. The Admiralty is considered to be the emblem of St. Petersburg which has developed as a naval city. Today this building is the chief adornment of the left bank of the Neva and its spire once again gleams in its restrained and majestic beauty.

Building No. 9, which stands on the corner of the Prospekt, is worth noting¹. It was once the Wawelberg Bank² and was built in 1912 in imitation of the Doges' Palace³ in Venice. Its granite facing stone was imported from Sweden by the banker Wawelberg. It is used as the airport building nowadays.

Building No. 13/8, (there is a memorial plate on the wall) was for long the residence of the great Russian composer Tchaikovsky, who died there on October 25, 1893. The writer Gogol lived almost next door, at No. 17 in 1833-1836, and the street had been named after⁴ him. Here Gogol was frequently visited by A. Pushkin, and it was here that he wrote Taras Bulba, Inspector-General and many other works. The Permanent Exhibition of Fine Arts, where paintings by St. Petersburg artists are sold, is located in building No. 8.

Building No. 14, a secondary school, built in 1939 fits in well with the architecture of the rest of the street. On the pediment over the entrance one can see the white letters printed on a blue background, warning passers-by of the danger of artillery fire on this side of the street. It is maintained in memory of World War II.

The huge corner building, No. 15, is one of the oldest in Nevsky Prospekt. It was built in 1768-1771 by the architect A.Kokorinov for the chief of the St. Petersburg police⁵ Chicherin. Now it is a cinema — Barrikada.

The building opposite, No. 18, (built in the first half of the 18th century and afterwards reconstructed), is connected with Pushkin's last days. On January 27, 1837, Pushkin met his second K.Danzas in the cafe there and set out with him the place of the duel on the northern outskirts of the city near Chyornaya Rechka. Now Kafe Literaturnoye is located here.

Walking down Nevsky Prospekt, one notices the elegant classical building at No. 20. This was once a Dutch Church⁶, built in 1837 by the architect P. Jacquot⁷. It is now a library named after the poet Alexander Blok.

No. 17, on the other side of the prospekt, is the building that was the palace of Count A.Stroganov. One of Rastrelli's finest creations, this splendid palace, richly decorated with columns and sculpture, was built in 1752-1754.